These days if your father smokes weed and mother has one too many wines then DOCS is at your door in a second. So spare a thought for the kids from Sherlock’s Daughter.
Their father, Sherlock Holmes, the legendary detective, was a cocaine addict with an affinity for the violin. Their mother, Irene Adler, a transatlantic opera singer with commitment issues.
I caught up with the poor chaps just recently, in between solving The Case of the Missing $950 From Kevin Rudd and rocking out Laneway Festival and Playground Weekender.
Given their namesake, I wondered if the band has adept observation skills?
“We like to think we do, however sometimes we might lose ourselves in the idea of doing rather than being, having said that most of the time I’d say we were a pretty observant band.”
At this point I see the band’s van catch on fire and a suspicious character run off with their guitars, but I choose not to say anything, bathing in the irony.
With a gene pool dirtier then Muddy Waters, the band must see their eccentric parents coming through their music.
“We definitely take after our father, with all of his idiosyncratic behavior – being moral and some immoral. Within that one finds quite a lot of inspiration to writing songs, we are lucky I guess we are all very similar.”
Sherlock’s Daughter have a family story that sounds like a lead bulletin on Today Tonight. Raised by a single parent after their mother fled, they dealt with their fathers’ substance abuse and his allegedly platonic relationship with close ‘friend’ Dr. Watson. This upbringing did give them the creative freedom to experiment.
“As a band we find immense pleasure in writing freely, we have plenty of songs that may never be heard by anyone other than ourselves in our practice room, we allow one another to indulge which is nice, but we always seem to get work done, so perhaps having such a delicate balance between sanity and insanity is a good thing.”
When I stopped to chat with the budding detective musicians, they were preparing for Playground Weekender, Laneway and a couple of gigs at 77 and Spectrum, a busy time indeed.
“We are wetting our pants excited, we have lots going on in our performances, we cant’ tell you what to expect, you’ll just have to come watch. Playing gigs in Sydney is nice for us as it also means we get to leave the house for some inspiration, get out of our comfort zone, and have a lovely night out.”
Although they may be at ease with a confusing case, a smoking pipe and a magnifying glass, Sherlock’s Daughter have been dragged into playing with some kickin’ bands lately.
“Ghoul are great, and we do quite a few shows with WIM, we love those guys. Kirin J Callinan is one of our all time favorites, and we’ve played with him heaps. Temper Trap were great, it’s been mad.”
With their parents long gone, disappeared into the annals of British literature, the band must fend for themselves. But their growing fan base and wonderful sound will ensure that The Adventure of the Sherlock’s Daughter will surely have a happy ending.
As I leave the band is snorting off a violin, a kind of tribute to their father. Lovely.
